Generally, during online shopping, a user searches for a specific product by navigating through multiple general category pages and eventually searching a desired sub-category or sub-sub-category product page. This navigation to the desired sub-category product page may occur through the application of one or more filters, which filter out the products that do not meet the user's desired attributes, such as price, etc. Normally, when presented with a first selection of products on a first category webpage, the user must click on, or otherwise select, his or her filter parameter, which then replaces the first webpage with a second webpage displaying a second selection (based on the filter parameter) of products. Generally, the second selection of products is a sub-set of the first selection of products. These filter parameters are often located on a left-hand filtering sidebar of the category page. Alternatively, the user may choose to open a new tab or browsing session such that the second webpage is displayed separately from the first webpage, in order to preserve the first webpage. Thus, if and when the user wishes to remove the filter parameter to view the first selection of products on the first webpage, the user must either remove the filter parameter from the second webpage such that the first webpage displaying the first selection of products is displayed again, hit a “back” button to again display the first webpage with the first selection of products, or click between the tabs associated with each of the first and second webpages. Each of the actions requires a click-based (or equivalent) action from the user to toggle between the first and second webpages, and thus first and second selections of products. Thus, the user is not provided a visual representation of the first selection of products while simultaneously viewing the second selection of products. This can slow the selection process or even prevent the user from selecting a product, as the user often becomes “lost” during the navigation between category and sub-category pages. Often, even when the user finds and is ready to purchase a product, the user is required to visit the product page to select a size and color of the product prior to adding the product to the user's electronic or virtual shopping cart.
Human or bot-created chat/messaging interactions with the user can simplify product searches for the consumer, but the method of filtering through the category pages to category sub-pages is generally the same except that the user is “asked” questions that correspond with the filters. That is, instead of the user selecting a size 8 in a left-hand filtering sidebar, the user responds with “size 8” via a dialogue box when asked which size he or she is looking for. When a desired product is displayed in the dialogue box, the user is required to click-through to a product page, at which point the user can add the product to the user's electronic shopping cart. Generally, in order to add the product to the user's electronic shopping cart from the product page, the user is still required to select a size—regardless of whether the user applied a filter involving a size—and a color before clicking on an “add to cart” button. Moreover, after clicking on the “add to cart” button, the user is often taken directly to his or her shopping cart and then has the option of returning to his or her search results or proceeding to payment. As the user is required to click-through to the product page prior to adding the product to the user's shopping cart, and/or is required to click out of the shopping cart, the user is less likely to return to the dialogue and/or less likely to purchase the selected item.